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Benjamin Donato-Woodger

Mrs. D'Amata

ENG4UP

October 6th, 2010

No Immigrants Left Behind

If Republicans ever discover the value of honesty, they will have to speak like Stephen

Colbert. Called to testify to the United States Senate on the Agricultural Jobs Bill, Colbert

presents a satiric speech where he pretends to hold Republican views while actually

defending the Democratic Party's position. In Stephen Colbert's testimony, his use of tone,

organization and intentional language errors make his testimony more effective at dismantling

the Republican position's credibility.

Stephen Colbert's satiric tone illustrates the lunacy of American xenophobia,

contributing to his argument. His sarcasm allows him to entertainingly discuss things

Americans already know about agriculture. An example is his bemoaning of how farm labour

is difficult because “most soil is at ground level,” and the travesty that despite all the

government funding nothing has been done to “make the soil at least waist high” (Colbert).

Beneath the entertainment, Colbert's satire subtly reminds his largely urban audience why

they should be grateful for the work that others put into feeding them—evoking pathos for

farm workers. Colbert enforces his satiric tone using oxymora to show the Republican

position's hypocrisy. An example of this is when he tells how his grandfather didn't come to

America to “see this country overrun by immigrants” (Colbert). Here Colbert's sarcasm makes

multiples points to listeners: America has always depended on the labour supplied by

immigrants; and even Republicans' forefathers were at one time immigrants—assuming they

didn't have preternatural births like Dick Cheney. Colbert's choice to cease his satiric tone
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while presenting his thesis contrasts his message with the otherwise light tone of his speech.

Thus his real argument that “improved legal status might allow immigrants recourse if they

are abused” because “if your coworker can't be exploited, then you're less likely to be

exploited yourself” is more distinct in the listener's memory (Colbert). Colbert's tone is also

strengthened by his use of hyperbole; when he suggests America's dependency on immigrant

labour could be solved if “all of us stop eating fruits and vegetables” the hyperbole indirectly

reminds Americans of agriculture’s importance while further suggesting government

intervention is needed—as only the government can enforce rules “all of us” will follow

(Colbert). Hyperbole is used in a similar fashion throughout his speech to reiterate an

important point while also making listeners laugh. In these ways Colbert's satiric tone

enhances the cogency of his argument, while simultaneously mocking the absurdities

underlying Republican xenophobia.

Colbert's choice to organize his speech around his inductive reasoning persuades

listeners by proving his supporting evidence before converging all their implications in his

thesis. His anticlimactic organization begins by explaining that people will always consume

produce and that immigrants have long performed jobs naturalized citizens leave vacant

(Colbert). Though seemingly obvious, both these facts re-emerge supporting the claim in his

thesis that “let's face it... [immigrants] will probably be doing these jobs anyways” (Colbert).

Another persuasive organizational choice Colbert makes is to present the economics of how

“the invisible hand does not want to pick beans” before his thesis . This allows him to

transition from describing the “lack of available labour” to how the government can fill the

demand by passing the Agricultural Jobs Bill (Colbert). Thus Colbert ensures the statistics are

still clear in the listeners mind when discussing the benefits the Agricultural Jobs Bill could

bring—which strengthens his appeal to logos given how quickly such statistics can be

forgotten. This organizational choice increasingly connects issues facing agriculture to those

facing immigrant labour allowing listeners to easily see the symbiotic relationship he
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envisages the two forming by the essay's conclusion.

Colbert's intentional language errors mock the dying metaphors and meaningless

phrases of the Republican Party to effectively demonstrate how a xenophobic attitude

towards immigrant labour is misguided. Colbert uses what George Orwell would call

doublespeak when he says “I agree with Congressman King, we must secure our borders”

(Colbert). Though both believe in a border that while porous to trade is a solid barrier to illegal

immigration, to them the phrase implies something completely different: to Republicans it

envisages a hyper-militarized border, but to Colbert it would mean a bill making it easier for

immigrants to become employed and receive legal protection. Though this type of

doublespeak is normally a tool of deception, here Colbert uses it to remind Americans that

Democrats have the same objective as Republicans—national security and job growth.

Colbert uses other meaningless phrases and metaphors of the right-wing in uncommon ways

that give them new meaning. An example is when he says “the invisible hand has already

moved over eighty-four thousand acres of production and over twenty-two thousand farm jobs

to Mexico” (Colbert); thus, rather than implying the invisible hand of capitalism always

balances supply and demand, Colbert creates the imagery of it as a force dealing disruptive

blows to the economy with all-too-visible consequences. By casting this overused metaphor

into a new light, Colbert instead portrays it to Americans as an ominous tide pressuring

businesses to eliminate jobs so as to increase profit margins. By making intentional language

errors in ways that subvert their original meaning Stephen Colbert effectively forces readers

to think critically about their usage once more.

In conclusion, through his adept application of tone, organizational methods, and

intentional language errors, Stephen Colbert persuasively argues how America can benefit

from immigrant labour. This dismantling of the Republican position illustrates the beauty of

democracy—when everyone is given the right to freedom of speech, people like him will use it

to speak with honesty.

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Works Cited

Colbert, Stephen. "Stephen Colbert Does Congress – Video & Accurate Transcript." Blue

Wave News. Leanne, 24 Sept. 2010. Web. 6 Oct. 2010.

<http://bluewavenews.com/blog/2010/09/24/stephen-colbert-does-congress-video-accurate-

transcript/>.